[Infowarrior] - Social media and insurance problems

[Richard Forno]

Scammed Facebook users could lose insurance claims because they post too much information online

By Paul Bentley

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2192377/Scammed-Facebook-users-lose-insurance-claims-post-information-online.html

PUBLISHED: 03:48 EST, 23 August 2012 | UPDATED: 07:00 EST, 24 August 2012

Facebook users face losing claims against banks and insurance companies because they are inviting fraudsters to scam them by posting so much personal information online.

Anyone burgled after advertising holiday plans on social networks, or scammed after inadvertently leaving clues about their accounts or passwords online, could find they are left completely out of pocket.

The crackdown is said to be ‘inevitable’ after experts warned that hackers are finding it easier than ever to commit identity fraud and predict it will start happening within a year.

Simply posting a picture of your car, or details about which phone network you use, is now enough for many scammers to be able to hack your computer and steal your bank details within minutes, they said.

One example given included a man who faced losing thousands after a picture of his new car posted online gave scammers enough detail to trick him into opening an email, which appeared to be from the DVLA.

With online fraud costing banks and insurance companies billions every year, they are expected to start taking into account the streams of information willingly publicised by people on the websites when analysing claims within the next year.

Alessandra Quartucci, head of saving at confused.com, said: ‘At the moment banks do not check a claimant’s personal social network information.

'However, we wouldn’t be surprised in the future if this did change as people are making this information more and more accessible.

‘The words and images you post on the internet can be viewed by hundreds, even thousands, of people and sharing too much information on social networking sites can be a financial disaster.

‘It is the debit and credit card owner’s responsibility to make sure their cards are kept in a safe and secure place, and telling everyone you’re not home does not make your house a safe place.’

The major high street banks currently deal with fraud claims on a ‘case by case’ basis. While they do not routinely check social networking sites, if something posted online could be considered ‘grossly negligent’ it would be considered and could leave the customer completely liable to cover the cost of what they have had stolen.

Experts say the problem is one the banks will ‘inevitably’ come down on more seriously because it is now so straightforward for hackers to use details posted online to create full profiles of internet users.

Oliver Crofton, director of online security company Vigilante Bespoke said this likely to start happening within the next year.

‘Hackers now use a more targeted approach, digging deeper and using social media,’ he said.

‘People put an alarming amount of personal information on different sites and everything you update, you broadcast to the world.

‘This is costing the banking industry so much at the moment that it is an inevitable development that they will get stricter.

‘If you get burgled and you had 'checked in' at Heathrow a few days before on Facebook, insurance companies will make it hard for you to claim your money back.

‘One friend of mine recently updated his status to say he was annoyed with his phone network. A hacker could easily use that information to then get hold of your email address and send an email which looks official saying, “we’re sorry you have had a bad experience, please click on this link for some money back''.'

In a shocking example given by Mr Crofton, who carried out an investigation into online security for Men’s Health, one man faced losing thousands because he posted a picture of his new car on Facebook.

Using the number plate and tax disc information visible on the photograph, together with an email address the person had posted on a LinkedIn profile and a home address found on an official website, hackers were able to send the man an official-looking document, which appeared to be from the DVLA asking him to renew his tax disc.

When he clicked on a link provided in the email, the victim’s computer was infected with a virus which allowed the hackers to monitor everything he typed on his computer, including bank details and passwords.

A report last year by the Cabinet Office’s Office of Cybersecurity and Information Assurance found that cybercrime costs the UK economy £27billion a year.

As a result, insurance companies said in the future claims could be rejected if customers had been ‘reckless’ with information they posted online. One admits it would consider rejecting applications outright from celebrities who write about their personal lives on Twitter because they are making themselves so vulnerable to being targeted.

‘We look at each individual who comes to us for insurance on their own merit and lifestyle naturally plays a part in this,’ a spokeswoman for insurers Hiscox said.

‘For example, if a high profile personality chooses to promote their lives, holidays and new purchases in the public arena, that’s their choice but we may choose not to offer them cover.’

Research has found that thousands of people who use social networking sites regularly leave themselves open to their homes being raided. There are now 30million users of Facebook in the UK and more than 10million using Twitter.

A survey of 3,000 from The Co-operative Insurance found 36 per cent of people who use the sites update friends on their whereabouts, while 35 per cent publicise events such as holidays, potentially alerting criminals to when their home will be empty.

Lee Mooney, Head of Home Insurance at The Co-operative, added: ‘We could envisage a future where claims could be rejected if it was discovered that someone had been reckless with information they’d posted on a social networking site.

‘You have to ask yourself: “Would I be happy to divulge this information normally?” If not, you shouldn’t make people aware of it online.’

Gareth Kloet, head of home insurance at confused.com, added: ‘It is possible that insurers could seek to access that information in the future. Something like ‘places’ and ‘tagging’ on Facebook broadcasts people’s locations on a platform which has millions of users and insurers could easily access such information.

‘Some people may openly advertise if their house hasn’t been adequately secured and this openly acts as a record which insurers may use when looking at a customer’s claim.

‘In the future we may see insurers declining claims if they believe the customer was negligent. Home security doesn’t mean just physical locks.’


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